United puts Dreamliner back in the air

Updated 11:45 pm, Monday, May 20, 2013

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press

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United Airlines employees learn about performing ground checks on flight a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Houston, Texas, after it landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Monday, May 20, 2013. The planes are returning after being grounded for four months by the federal government because of smoldering batteries on 787s owned by other airlines. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) less

United Airlines employees learn about performing ground checks on flight a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Houston, Texas, after it landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Monday, May 20, 2013. ... more

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press

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Fast-food chain Smashburger plans to open 500 new units in the U.S. and is considering an IPO.

Fast-food chain Smashburger plans to open 500 new units in the U.S. and is considering an IPO.

Photo: Lee Svitak Dean, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

United puts Dreamliner back in the air

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Airlines

United sends Dreamliner up

Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner cleared another hurdle in restoring its image as United Airlines, the only U.S. operator, resumed flights Monday after the jet's lithium-ion battery flaws forced a three-month grounding.

ANA, Japan Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines say they plan to start returning 787s to service in the first week of June, while the other operator, Latam Airlines Group, said May 15 that its Dreamliners would fly in "coming days."

acquisitions

Actavis to buy Warner Chilcott

Actavis Inc., the largest U.S. maker of generic drugs by market value, agreed to acquire pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott for about $5 billion excluding net debt in a deal to expand in women's health and urology.

Warner Chilcott investors will receive 0.16 shares of new Actavis stock for each Warner Chilcott share they own, Actavis said Monday. The agreement currently values each Warner Chilcott share at $20.08, a 4.5 percent premium over the stock's closing price on May 17. Including Warner Chilcott's more than $3 billion in net debt, the total value of the acquisition is about $8.5 billion.

The combined company will have $11 billion in annual revenue as Actavis also adds gastroenterology and dermatology businesses, according to the New Jersey company.

Vista Equity buys Websense

Websense, a website-filtering company that is shifting into Internet security, will be acquired by private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners of Texas for about $906 million.

Websense investors will receive $24.75 a share in cash, a premium of about 29 percent over the stock's closing price on its last trading day, according to a statement Monday. The deal will turn the San Diego company into a closely held business. JPMorgan Chase, RBC Capital Markets and Guggenheim Partners are providing debt financing for the transaction.

The company is trying to transition from its roots blocking inappropriate websites in the workplace - described by Chief Executive Officer John McCormack as the "porn-filtering market" - into a provider of broader online-security services.

Seamless to join with GrubHub

GrubHub and Seamless North America, two of the top food-delivery websites in the U.S., have agreed to combine their companies to take on rivals in the growing market for online meal orders.

GrubHub Chief Executive Officer Matt Maloney will become CEO of the merged group, and Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky will serve as president, the two said in an interview. Neither company is paying to acquire the other, Maloney said, declining to share financial details of the agreement. The deal now awaits the approval of U.S. regulators, he said.

Food-delivery sites and mobile applications are gaining in popularity as more people order their meals online, instead of calling or picking up orders at restaurants. That's also driving consolidation, as startups join forces to head off competition from review sites such as San Francisco's Yelp.

dividends

GE to pay out $6.5 billion

General Electric Co. plans to extract $6.5 billion in dividends from its financial unit this year as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt ramps up shareholder rewards while shrinking the business.

The payments from GE Capital will consist of 30 percent of its total 2013 profit, or about $2 billion, and a $4.5 billion special dividend, GE said Monday. GE Capital paid a first-quarter earnings dividend of $447 million on April 19, it said.

GE Capital resumed the payouts last year, returning $6.4 billion to its parent, after suspending them in 2009 as frozen credit markets jeopardized its access to financing. Immelt is tapping the financial division for cash to fund stock buybacks and dividends that are slated to return $18 billion to shareholders this year while shrinking its contribution to GE's total profit.

restaurants

Smashburger considers IPO

Smashburger will expand to about 500 units in the U.S. in the next two to three years and may consider an initial public offering, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dave Prokupek said.

A U.S. IPO is "definitely a possibility down the road," Prokupek said Monday. "The idea of good food fast isn't going to go away anytime soon."

The closely held burger chain based in Denver, which has about 200 domestic locations, competes with fast-casual restaurants including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread and Five Guys Burgers & Fries. Smashburger has been expanding to new cities in the U.S., as well as overseas in markets such as Panama, Canada and Saudi Arabia.